


Panic

by Diggy



Series: Riley Universe [SDV] [5]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Panic, Self-Indulgent, sambastian - Freeform, sweet enough to rot your teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diggy/pseuds/Diggy
Summary: Sebastian had never really felt a truer sense of panic before that horrible morning...
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Series: Riley Universe [SDV] [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797919
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	Panic

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Sebastian clearly doesn’t make the best life choices, especially when he is upset or sleep deprived. Do not follow his lead. This is purely for my own self-indulgence. Cause I like fluff, okay? Okay.

* * *

Waking Sebastian from a deep slumber was something akin to trying to deactivate a ticking bomb while you were drunk, colorblind, and wearing oven mitts over your bare hands. It was a dangerous matter to attempt, and should never be underestimated -- Sebastian’s sarcastic _bite_ was almost as bad as that of the explosive itself.

But…

Something was different that cold, Tuesday morning when Robin woke him up. For one, it wasn’t even morning. Sebastian wouldn’t usually have the luxury of deciphering such details without the benefit of having windows in his bedroom. Yet seeing Robin’s worried, tired face quickly clued him in to the time of day.

“Mom…” he groaned irritably before Robin placed a hand on his arm, fully grasping his attention.

“Sebby, your sister just called — Sam’s in the hospital, sweetie.”

It was as if the world stopped spinning on its axis all at once. Everything simply _froze._

The air around him went cold.

The blood in his veins froze solid.

Life itself went eerie still. 

He forgot how to breathe, his mouth went dry, and his jaw slightly slacked because the immeasurable pressure suddenly in his chest was so unbearable, it was all he could do not to burst into dust.

“ _...What?_ ”

And then Robin began to get nervous again and everything that had welled up in Sebastian’s chest just increased tenfold and became so much worse.

Sebastian sat up abruptly. Heart racing, skin clammy, and his ears buzzing he couldn’t even fathom what his mother was saying.

“Jodie brought him in a few hours ago. He’s had a fever since Sunday, and he was having some trouble breathing, so she took him to the clinic…”

Sebastian didn’t even let his mother finish. He was already on the ground, mismatched black socks on the cold basement floorboards, not even taking the effort to care that he was half undressed in front of his mother as he scrambled to throw on the first pair of pants he could find.

“Sebastian, you can’t-“

“The hell I can’t.” His voice was harsh and gravely, but his mother could feel the pressure and emotion behind it. She had meant to say _he shouldn’t,_ since she knew full well that no one would _actually_ be able to stop him once he had a goal in mind. Now that he was hurriedly dressing to run out the door, she didn’t question him because she understood what he was feeling.

Sebastian bit back the bitter taste in his throat and shrill ringing in his ears. He was suffocating himself little-by-little the longer he took to dress.

Discarded jeans off the floor.

Ratty hoodie from his desk.

The first sneakers he could find, whether or not they even matched.

“Keys…” he started as he spun around in realization that _those_ would be necessary. Robin already had them in hand, extended out to her son because she knew the importance of this. She wouldn’t get in his way.

Sebastian met her eye and for just a moment time seemed to still as his hand closed around his motorcycle keys.

“He’s going to be okay, Sebby.”

He wasn’t a praying man nor one to have any specific tendencies towards the supernatural outside of the fictional world of his games and entertainment. But right then, in his head, he _prayed_ to any almighty beings above that his mother was right.

  
  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  
  
  


He had _told_ him to be careful. It was flu season, and even though the Valley was rural with a small population so things like this didn’t spread _too_ much, he and Sam had been visiting the city often. Now Sam was working in the city as well. Sebastian had gotten the flu shot earlier in the season and all but _roped_ Sam into doing the same.

So naturally, he _hadn’t._

Sam was sick three weeks later. At first thought, the flu didn’t linger _too_ long and he’d recovered _mostly._

Shortly after, Sam got sick _again._

And it had gotten worse...and worse... _and worse..._

Sebastian blew through the Pelican Town clinic doors breathless and frantic. Maru was at the front, waiting at the door to open it for her brother, and Sebastian hadn’t been so preoccupied he may have even wondered if she only did so because their mother had warned her of such before his arrival. It wasn’t normal to have clinic visits at 5 in the morning.

_“Where is he?”_

Maru barely had a chance to _look_ at him before Sebastian was dashing past her towards the patients rooms.

“In the back!” The young intern barely had a chance to spit out before her half-brother was out of sight.

The clinic lights were cold and detached, even more so than usual. Sebastian wasn’t a frequent visitor of this establishment but he did see the good doc at least once a year and occasionally more often when he and Sam got up to something stupid. On the rare occasion, at least _one_ of them needed some patching up or bodily repairs.

Today, though….today was different. The lights seemed louder than usual. That low, electric buzz of current through the blue-tinted fluorescent bulbs seemed drowning in his ears. The pristine white polished floors seemed like ice under his feet.

The small, short hall of a tiny rural town’s only medical clinic stretched out to that of a massive inner-city unit.

It was all _too_ much. _Sensory overload_. Doctor Harvey once used that term when he’d had a conversation with the town recluse about overwhelming sensations that sometimes seemed suffocating. He’d told him that it always was worse when negative emotions were high.

_Like when the person you loved was in the hospital._

Room 4. The last room in the clinic was in front of him and Sebastian came to a halt before it. 

His old sneakers squeaked on the floor as he stopped, throat swelled up, hands went clammy. His jaw slacked.

Even from the small door window he could see _him_ , his sunshine. _Sam._ He had an IV in his arm, looked pale and grey against the pristine white clinic sheets, and those normally warm golden strands clung to his clammy skin dull and drenched in sweat.

“You can go in there, if you’d like.” The voice arose from behind Sebastian so unexpectedly and when Sebastian had already been so lost in thought, he’d nearly lept out of his skin with the doctor had suddenly appeared.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

It didn’t really matter what the doctor said however, the damage had already been done the instant Sebastian had nearly suffered a heart attack. Now he’d be left to deal with the overwhelming sensation of feeling like his heart was going to _thump-thump-thump_ right out of his chest.

“He’s going to be fine, it’ll just take a while to recover…” Doctor Harvey began again slowly. Sebastian had so many questions he wanted to ask; so many things he needed to know. Before any of them made it to the edge of his tongue a distinctly familiar, _gravely_ voice arose from the other side of the door. Sebastian’s attention immediately shifted from his own heart palpitations to Sam’s room.

He began to defrost.

Sam’s baby blues just looked right back at him with a weak, soft smile.

Sebastian’s body went on autopilot. He didn’t think about moving into the room, nor did he think about whether or not it was even a good idea to do so. For all Sebastian knew, Sam could be suffering the new-aged plague that was so horribly contagious, even being in the same building as he would mark the end of _both_ of them.

“Hey, you didn’t have to get up early for me,” Sam’s voice was weak and soft, such a harsh contrast to the usually loud, fast, high-energy it usually held.

Sebastian didn’t remember walking up to him. Simply one second he was outside that door having a panic, and the next he was beside the bed sitting on a chair conveniently placed beside someone who was possibly the most important person in his life.

“Bold of you to assume I ever went to sleep,” he responded with spark.

 _What a fucking stupid comment._ He knew it was the instant it left his mouth. Not that it mattered much — Sam gave him a weak smile and that made it all worth it.

Sam didn’t say anything else, his tired, red eyes just glancing over Sebastian’s features. In any other situation, it would put the recluse on edge. Even if he’d been intimate with Sam a hundred times and had nothing to hide from him, the attention of being _admired_ was still so foreign and off-putting.

Today, though...Sam could have probably asked him just about _anything_ and he’d agree to it.

The room grew quiet, but neither of the men minded. Sebastian just held Sam’s hand, watching him breathing softly and the slow rise and fall of his chest. The hum of monitors and white noise of the machinery seemed oddly lulling once he was here, with Sam and knew he was okay.

Sebastian’s eyes grew heavier the longer he watched Sam just sleep and breathe, and something in his brain itched almost unbearably for a cigarette. He wouldn’t leave though. Not yet. Not until Sam woke up and shooed him away so he could get some rest, go home, or something similar.

“Seb.”

Sebastian shook himself so violently out of the almost sleep he’d fallen under, his vision spun and he almost suffered whiplash.

“You should go home and sleep. I’m fine, Doc said I can leave in the morning and I have enough meds in me to drug up half the town.”

Sebastian smirked at that one. He _softened_.

“He just wants to make sure I don’t get a fever or something again,” Sam finished finally.

_Fat chance._

Sebastian wanted to make a smart response. He wanted to say something witty and sarcastic and sharp about not leaving. Instead he simply stared at Sam with tired, hazel eyes and paused.

“Are you contagious?”

In retrospect, that probably should have been something he asked sooner. He hadn’t really worried much about it earlier, though. He’d been much more focused on just making sure Sam was okay.

“I don’t think so,” he muttered a little more spiritedly. He gave him a smile and a little more sunlight came through than before. _Sebastian_ had that effect on him. He _always_ brought out Sam’s sunny side. “Guess I should have listened to you when you got your flu shot.”

The logic didn’t seem exactly on point with that one but Sebastian was neither educated enough to question it nor lucid enough to give a shit.

“Move over a little.” Sebastian stood up, still holding his significant other’s hand and watched Sam chew on that request a good three seconds before piecing it together.

Sam shifted over a few inches away from Sebastian who removed his sneakers with his own feet before climbing aboard the clinic bed beside him.

The bed creaked slightly and was much too narrow for two fully grown adults. Luckily, Sebastian was thin and lanky and right now wanted nothing more than to curl up beside his best friend...who he occasionally also slept with.

“Harvey’s gonna throw you out when he catches you,” Sam mumbled sleepily. He rested his cheek against Sebastian’s forehead and gave a low, slow breath. It didn’t sound exactly right, but luckily Sebastian didn’t know the difference anyways.

He curled in close to Sam’s warmth, happy once more that his sunshine ran so much warmer than he.

_“I dare him to try.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Join me on Discord for sneak peeks and general (random) conversation. 
> 
> https://discord.gg/Md8xBJJ
> 
> Comments are cherished and adored!
> 
> \- Diggy


End file.
